Nickel plated brass

[HughW2]

What is the supposed benefit of nickel plated brass. Federal premium uses it; I don’t know of any other manufacturers using it. I think I have heard in the past it is supposed to help with smoother feeding. being more cynical in my mature years, I figure it is a way for Federal to drive up the price of their ammo. Do any of you buy off on it being better than regular brass. If Federal brass was not good enough for Federal Premium why didn’t they just use Norma or Lapua brass?? I just think it looks cheesy sort of like the Lone Ranger! Yippee Yo Kai Yeah!

 

[Dub]

They market it as slicker surface, smoother feeding, like you stated.

New cases are a bit more expensive if they are nickel plated. They also tend to have a shorter life cycle for folks that reload. It doesn't lend itself to being worked as much over time.

I've bought it for new cartridges I'm starting with if there wasn't standard brass available. Recently bought a couple hundred cases of 10mm nickel plated because it was way cheaper than anything else at the moment and I knew I'd use it for initial load workup.

I've got a thousand or so once-fired nickel .45acp cases. I'll likely lose them before they wear out with the 200gr lswc loads they'll be used in. After a few more firings I may just "retire" them with a final load of hollow point home defense rounds and stash them.

Everyone has their favorites, I suppose. Regular brass is mine....especially Starline if I can get really picky.



EDIT:

Forgot to add that regular brass trims way more easier/faster/less wear on cutter.

I have no idea if nickel coated bottleneck "stretches" as much over repeated firings...maybe it's slower....thus not needing trimming as often making it a wash...I don't know.

Also have no idea if the necks can be annealed again by handloaders. Would be cool to hear from them.

 

[frankwright]

It is slicker for sure. I try to save my nickel plated .38 reloads for competition as I can tell a difference in how they go in and out of the cylinders.
They have a shorter life and are more brittle. I usually find 1 split brass case out of 100 but will find 7-8 nickel cases.
It is more corrosion resistant and they use that as a selling point to hunters in snow and rain but it is probably just a marketing ploy!

 

[280 Man]

I really like nickel brass because it stays cleaner but Ive quit using tho. Like already noted it doesn't seem to lend itself to longevity. They seem to be a little brittle. When I have issues it's normally with split necks. I almost never have issues with regular brass and split necks!

 

[Big7]

The nickel doesn't stretch at the same rate as brass.

After about 3 loadings, you will see the nickel flaking around the case mouth. You can keep loading as long as you don't see vertical lines in the case mouth. Once that happens, the case is pretty much done.

It's not so much the feed, it's the extraction where nickel comes in handy. The friction coefficient is key. Nickel is a LOT "slicker" than brass on the way out, when the case is blown out to the chamber.??

 

[HughW2]

Big 7,
Thanks for enlightening me. I hadn‘t considered extraction, but it makes sense. Especially with some magnum loads, you may get sticky extraction. Potential benefit.
The cost of Federal Premium vs blue box or Fusion still shocks me.

 

[280 Man]

The nickel doesn't stretch at the same rate as brass.

After about 3 loadings, you will see the nickel flaking around the case mouth. You can keep loading as long as you don't see vertical lines in the case mouth. Once that happens, the case is pretty much done.

It's not so much the feed, it's the extraction where nickel comes in handy. The friction coefficient is key. Nickel is a LOT "slicker" than brass on the way out, when the case is blown out to the chamber.??

That friction coefficient could be a big benefit in semi-autos but it might not be much in bolt action rifles.

If that was an issue in bolt actions there would more manufacturers using nickel in more cartridges.

 

[Dub]

Big 7,
Thanks for enlightening me. I hadn‘t considered extraction, but it makes sense. Especially with some magnum loads, you may get sticky extraction. Potential benefit.
The cost of Federal Premium vs blue box or Fusion still shocks me.

What bullet is used in those Federal Premium loads ?

I suspect that's how they attempt to justify the cost.....and for folks who want those specific bullets vs doing their own handloading.....it may be worth it to them.

For the cost of a few boxes of Federal Premium, I suspect one could buy a Lee, Hornady, RCBS, etc branded.. single stage kit, powder, primers and the exact bullet they want and make their own super-accurate bottleneck rifle ammo with some time and willingness.

Some would rather forgo that and just buy it off the shelf ready to shoot.

 

[Big7]

That friction coefficient could be a big benefit in semi-autos but it might not be much in bolt action rifles.

If that was an issue in bolt actions there would more manufacturers using nickel in more cartridges.

Not really. Nickel is very expensive.
There will only be a certain amount of folks that buy the premium nickel plated factory loads. I'd almost bet most of them don't handload.

As I mentioned before, the benefit is upon extraction. Be it bolt, semi or whatever. That's when the case is blown out to the chamber. And... Nickel won't fill a pitted chamber as much. Thus, leading to better extraction. ?

Not all that hard to slam one home. The trick is in the ejection.?

 

[Stroker]

I tried to reload two boxes of the nickle plated brass for my .243. Using the same lube and FL dies that I've used to load 1000' of .243 and the nickle would not chamber after a Fl resizing, but the brass would. 40 nickle cases got thrown in my scrap brass container.

 

[Big7]

What bullet is used in those Federal Premium loads ?

I suspect that's how they attempt to justify the cost.....and for folks who want those specific bullets vs doing their own handloading.....it may be worth it to them.

For the cost of a few boxes of Federal Premium, I suspect one could buy a Lee, Hornady, RCBS, etc branded.. single stage kit, powder, primers and the exact bullet they want and make their own super-accurate bottleneck rifle ammo with some time and willingness.

Some would rather forgo that and just buy it off the shelf ready to shoot.

Dub. I don't buy centerfire.

I have no idea which bullet they are loaded with. I'd suspect some black molly coating.

A lot of the premium use that coating.

Shouldn't be to hard to recognize. Shoot me a few pics..

I can probably figure it out. Or... At least get close.?

 

[Dub]

Dub. I don't buy centerfire.

I have no idea which bullet they are loaded with. I'd suspect some black molly coating.

A lot of the premium use that coating.

Shouldn't be to hard to recognize. Shoot me a few pics..

I can probably figure it out. Or... At least get close.?

No...that was my question to Hugh....what bullets are the Federal Premium loads he's talking about ?

I've seen them loaded with Barnes, Nosler BT, Nosler Accubond, Sierra GameKing, etc.....prices all over the place accordingly.




I'll be right there with ya mighty soon, too.....won't be buying centerfire ammo other than carry loads.

 

[280 Man]

There may one or two but I'm not aware of any factory "hunting" bullets that are moly coated!

 

[Jester896]

The closest thing to a moly coated bullet is CTs from Nosler. They usually come in nickel cases.

All Federal Premiums don't come with nickel cases it is a select few.

 

[pavogrande]

I believe nickle brass was to solve the issue ot regular brass turning green in police belt loops --

 

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

Nickle is for looks but all above holds true. Give or take.

 

[BriarPatch99]

I tried to reload two boxes of the nickle plated brass for my .243. Using the same lube and FL dies that I've used to load 1000' of .243 and the nickle would not chamber after a Fl resizing, but the brass would. 40 nickle cases got thrown in my scrap brass container.

This does mean not nickel brass is useless ....all that means is ....you ain't sizing it correct ...
Nickle plated brass is slightly more "springy" taking a more sizing(.243W) ...

I load thousands of rounds of nickle plated brass ..... You will lose a few more cases from split necks than regular brass ....

 

[Stroker]

This does mean not nickel brass is useless ....all that means is ....you ain't sizing it correct ...
Nickle plated brass is slightly more "springy" taking a more sizing(.243W) ...

I load thousands of rounds of nickle plated brass ..... You will lose a few more cases from split necks than regular brass ....

It was only 40 nickle cases that got tossed. I've got well over 1k of brass cases. I'm not changing my process that I've used for over 30 years for 40 cases. If I haven't trashed them you're welcomed to them for postage.

 

[Laman]

I've loaded dozens of nickel cases over the years primarily to segregate different loads between rifles of the same caliber but different chambers. I never noticed any particular difficulty in processing or sizing nickel vs. regular brass. The price of the loaded ammo is probably more the higher quality bullets as already stated. A quick search supply houses show that nickel plated is only like 2 to 3 dollars more per 50.

 

[pdsniper]

I found in the rounds I load for my sharps they ten to get a greenish blue ring around the part that is touching the case in my leather cartridge belt the leather does it in no time at all so I load nickel plated cases that go in my cartridge belt and I will agree they don't hold up as long reloading them in 4570 they are bad about cracking in just a few relaods